


One is Not Like the Others

by saltyb0ba



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Angst, Crying, Donatello (TMNT) Needs a Hug, Gen, angst with a tiny tiny little bit of fluff, aquatic turtles, battle shell? never heard of her, donnie without battle shell lets goo, like the 50th donnie with a hurt shell fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26616988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltyb0ba/pseuds/saltyb0ba
Summary: The main 4 are chasing a yokai through the streets of Manhattan when Donnie takes a risk that affects them all.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 43





	1. Chase

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!! 
> 
> It's important to know that alligator snapping turtles (Raph), red eared sliders (Leo) and softshell turtles (Donnie) are aquatic turtles and can survive underwater! Just context you need to know before you read <3
> 
> Enjoy!

“On your left!” Raph yelled at Leo as they chased a yokai through downtown Manhattan. Leo dodged just as a weapon sweeped over his head and kept running. He nodded a thanks to Raph. This yokai was one they were chasing and tracking for weeks, and just now were able to find. They had to constantly avoid cars and animals as they ran. Donnie and Mikey were riding on a Shell Hog, following the other 2. They were planning to corner the yokai and the Shell Hog could provide some needed assistance. Swinging his sword in a specific pattern, Leo opened a portal and jumped through it. He felt his feet touch warm but slippery pink skin and instantly started slashing the yokai, trying to impair it and slow it down. He was unsuccessful; the skin did not break, it only became slimier and he started to slip. The yokai shoved him off as they neared a dock and jumped into the water, leaving a slime covered Leo behind. 

“Eww, slime… gross..” Leo exclaimed in disgust as he started to rub it all off. Raph caught up to Leo as Mikey and Donnie came to a stop.

“They went in the water,” Raph said, out of breath and putting his hand on his leg to gain his bearings. “I don’t think we’ll be able to get them this time.” He looked defeated after doing all that running for nothing.

“Move,” Donnie said as he dismounted the Shell Hog. Looking at his touchscreen on his gauntlet, he was able to find out where the yokai went. “They’re deep underwater. I can go after them.” He started to take off his Battle Shell because it would be too heavy to swim with. He wouldn’t be nearly as fast as he wanted to be if he had his tech slowing him down. Plus, it wasn’t even waterproofed yet, which meant it could break. Either way wasn’t good.

“But D, you saw how strong they were! How are you even going to get near them if-” Leo was interrupted by Donnie.

“Nardo, there are necessary risks I have to take. Trust me when I say I’m making the right decision.” He looked sternly at Leo, whose expression changed to one of concern.

Mikey stayed silent. He knew better than to interrupt his older siblings and add his own two cents when the topic of Donnie’s shell came up. He got off the Shell Hog and sat in front of it, this was going to take a bit.

“Look, you two, how about the three of us go down there. After all, both Leo and I are aquatic, along with you, Donnie,” Raph glanced over to Mikey, who was now sitting on the ground fidgeting with his hands. Raph felt like he looked left out, so he proposed an idea. “Hey Mikey, how about you return to the lair and give us some eyes in the sky? I’m sure Donnie has something he can have you use.” Raph prompted, now looking at Donnie.

“Yes, sure. Mikey, when you get to the lair, head into my lab. Grab the invention shaped like a bird and set it in the large room. Go back to the computers and then you can monitor our situation. Take my Battle Shell with you too, I can’t risk leaving it here.” Donnie gave him his Battle Shell and hoped Mikey understood him, but if he did, he didn’t show it. He continued to fidget, instead with the Battle Shell. Turning back to the edge of the dock, Donnie looked at his brothers with a face of determination.

“Everyone ready?” Leo asked. He had attached his sword to himself so that it looked like he had a fin. It looked a bit silly, but it was effective.

“Let’s go get that yokai.” Raph said, giving the indication to jump in.

Mikey was now left alone with Donnie’s battle shell in his hand, sitting still as he watched his older brothers go into the water. Slowly getting up and still looking into the water, he put the battle shell on his own shell, and even though it didn’t really fit it was better than holding it as he drove. The streets were quiet as he made his way to the lair, parking the Shell Hog and getting off, taking the Battle Shell and heading to Donnie’s lab to set it down. 

“Now where could that bird thingy be?” He wondered out loud. Searching the room, his eyes fell on what Donnie was talking about and immediately went to set it on their skate ramp. The computers required a password, which fortunately Mikey remembered from that team building exercise Raph had them all do. 

_ Bootyyyshaker9000, three y’s and a capital B in booty. _

He chuckled to himself as he entered it, gaining access to the needed surveillance.

In the other room, the bird invention, which Donnie had titled O.S.P.R.E.Y. activated and took off. It responded to a tracker Donnie had implanted on himself to be able to be found in the case he was taken, kidnapped or worse. Mikey was a bit confused by the controls, but was able to get the hang of it pretty quickly. 

-

-

-

Leo took it upon himself to make a searching mission into a competition, swimming a little bit faster than the others and gloating to them about it through smug expressions. Raph and Donnie didn’t care. They were gaining fast on the yokai, able to see the tail of it. Reaching out with a hand, Raph was able to get a firm grip on the tail. The yokai noticed and started shaking its tail violently, hoping to lose the giant turtle. Raph lost his grip and fell behind the others, trying to regain his speed. Leo’s sword was surprisingly light underwater with how he positioned it, he was able to swim and grab it off his back. Putting his sword to good use and opening a portal, he teleported to the front of the yokai’s face. The impact hurt, but not as much as the next thing the yokai did. They grabbed his feet and hurled him across the ocean floor, Leo’s landing softened by the wet sand. He recovered but now he was as slow as Raph, leaving Donnie in the front. He was amused by his brother’s methods of trying to stop the yokai, which led him to lower his guard. He swam over the yokai, latching to it’s back and trying to control it like it was a wild horse waiting to be tamed. Raph and Leo were surprised at how strong he was, but that surprise would soon turn to anguish.

Donnie believed he had finally had control of the yokai as they were heading into waters littered with spiky rocks. He forced them to turn away from the rocks but they flipped upside down instead. Donnie frantically tried to get them to flip over again, but to no avail. He felt a spike of pain emanate from his back. 

A rock had sliced his shell quite severely. And there were more coming.

-

-

-

Mikey panicked. Nothing like this had ever happened before.

The O.S.P.R.E.Y. showed that Donnie was in trouble. Deep trouble. The worst part was that Mikey couldn’t do anything about it. The other two literally saw what happened to him, and Mikey saw blood rising to the surface.

He started hyperventilating. Should he tell Dad? No, he couldn’t do anything about it. Calling April would only cause more problems, she couldn’t help. The only thing he could do was wait. He would have to let them take care of the problems. 

Then he realized something. They sent him back here because they didn’t want him in the way. They sent him back here because he wasn’t able to swim. He was just extra luggage they would have to haul around. Realizing all of this made him angry. Very angry. But he would have to save that anger for another time. Right now, saving Donnie is all that matters. Doing his best, Mikey scoped out a place for them to swim to. A near shore would have to do the trick. Then the problem was how to get that message to them, and fast. He recalled what he had learned from a book about birds Donnie bought him when he was little.

_ Ospreys can dive into water to catch their prey, and come out with it. _

Of course! He double checked that the O.S.P.R.E.Y. was waterproof (why wouldn’t it be) and sent it after his brothers. It zipped through the air, and Mikey was able to get a clear visual on where they were. He pressed a button and the O.S.P.R.E.Y. doubled in size. Targeting the yokai, he sent the bird drone flying downwards. When it was fully submerged, it hooked it’s talons into the yokai’s sides, pulling it upwards into the air. The yokai struggled, but once they realized they couldn’t escape, they sighed and stopped trying.

-

-

-

The pain was unbearable. His exposed cuts mixed with the saltiness of Manhattan water was enough to cause anyone to scream. The yokai was gone but he was still hurt. Donnie felt himself sinking, and he couldn’t do anything about it. All the strength in his body dissipated, and his muscles ached. He hoped his brothers could see him, could find him as he felt his eyes begin to close.

Leo swam faster than he ever had, and so did Raph. Donnie was sinking and they needed to get to him. Raph gestured for Leo to make a portal as he swam towards Donnie. Leo obeyed and got ready. Turning around, Donnie tucked in Raph’s arms, Leo swung his sword. They entered the portal and made it to the surface, gasping in some air and hoisting Donnie up on Raph’s back. Looking towards the sky, Leo spotted the O.S.P.R.E.Y. pointing towards a sandy beach. He instantly understood that’s where Mikey wanted them to go and yelled a thanks. Leo made another portal to make the swimming easier on Raph and had him go through it. Once Leo saw they landed safely, he started swimming. His muscles were tired but he wasn’t. 

“How bad is it?” Leo asked as he reached shore.

“Take a look for yourself.” Flipping Donnie over gently, Raph exposed Donnie’s shell, and subsequently his cuts and bleeding. They went all over his shell, plus some random ones on his limbs. As he was sinking in the water, he also got a cut on his face.

“If we don’t get him home and get some help, he’s  _ going to die,  _ Leo.” Raph sounded upset, and that wasn’t good. Leo looked around to see if Mikey was still there, and he was. He told Mikey to put the yokai somewhere and then come back quick for them. Mikey sped away as soon as he could.

Leo started pacing back and forth, frequently running his hands over his head. He was mumbling to himself, but he didn’t let Raph hear. He was too busy tending to Donnie. Leo wished he could help, but his anxiety kept him from doing anything meaningful. He contemplated using a portal to get home and get help for those two but when he’s not focused who  _ knows _ where that portal would go. 

“Leo, come over here,” Raph was struggling to keep himself together. Leo asked what he needed to do. “Help me lay him down.” As they did so, the Turtle Tank arrived, with Mikey at the helm. Both their faces brightened up a little as they gently picked Donnie back up and got inside the tank.

“Luckily Donnie installed a ramp on this thing...” Mikey mumbled as he tried to find the button and pressed it. The back of the tank opened up and the others came inside.

Driving home was eerily quiet. On a normal day, the brothers would make jokes and talk about past adventures as they traveled.

But today was not that day.


	2. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys arrive home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To understand some parts in this chapter, watching "Lair Games" and "Man vs. Sewer" is recommended.

Finally arriving at home after what seemed like forever, they unloaded. Mikey had prepared the medbay before leaving, so transferring Donnie to the medbay’s bed was easy. It was what they were going to do next that was hard. None of this had ever happened to them before, especially not to Donnie. They acted on the medical knowledge they had, cleaning the cuts and applying pressure to the small ones. Most of this knowledge came from Mikey. He was the only one of the four (besides Donnie) who read everything he could when he wasn’t making art or busy doing anything else. The only thing they didn’t know how to do was stitching. None of them had the medical expertise, nor anyone they knew. Donnie would have to go without them. They couldn’t risk hurting him even more because of their inexperience.

Splinter watched the boys as Donnie was carried in, keeping silent as he tried to understand the situation. He knew from experience it was best for them to take care of each other, so he would intervene later. He noted that everyone seemed to be affected, not just the injured turtle. He returned to his TV.

Bandaging him up and connecting him to a heart monitor was Raph and Leo’s job while Mikey cleaned up the mess they had made. After everything had been taken care of, the others tended to their own wounds. It was mostly bruises, but there were a few shallow cuts.

“So...how are we moving forward from this?” Leo questioned, with a puzzled expression. He thought they did all they could.

“Let him rest. We’ll figure out something eventually.” Raph said. The medbay bed was not comfy, but it propped him up. It would do for now. If Donnie complained, he could be moved.

The transparent doors silently slid shut behind the boys as they left. Everyone looked lost. Without warning, Mikey headed off to his room to cry. He had held it in all this time and just couldn’t hold it anymore. Throwing himself onto his hammock, he let out loud sobs, warm tears streaming down his face. Mikey had almost lost his brother. And he wasn’t even there when he got hurt. Gradually, his sobs turned into whimpers as tiredness crept over him, not letting him have the strength to cry anymore. He just laid there, staring at the wall with eyes that stung. He didn’t care that he ran out on his brothers, they should understand.

That left Leo and Raph. They could hear the sobs from Mikey’s room, and Raph started to get up. Leo’s hand stopped him.

“I think Mikey needs some alone time right now. In fact, we all do.” Lowering his hand, he got up and went to his room. Waving to Raph, he closed the curtains. Raph obliged and walked to his room. The mood was somber as Leo and Raph sat on their beds. Staying still and staring at the ground was an easy feat. Nothing bothered them as they started into space, letting their minds wander. They needed something to look forward to. 

Looking up at his trophies, Leo sighed. The way he had won these often included hurting Donnie. Hell, even last lair games he dropped the contents of a fridge on Donnie’s foot. He didn’t even want to mention the “incident”. He wasn’t even a good brother. Sure, he could be cocky at times but that was when the time was appropriate. 

Raph, on the other hand, looked like he was meditating. He was staring too, but he looked calm and composed instead of stressed. He had dealt with problems like this on his own, but he was slowly starting to break. Lowering his legs, he hopped off his bed and sat on his weight bench. Putting his head in his hands, he closed his eyes. Flashes of Donnie being cut ran through his mind, the smell of his blood and the pain in his eyes, causing him to violently react. He wasn’t alone but a little bit of Savage Raph was showing through, grabbing things he wouldn’t mind being broken and throwing them against the wall. Any of his brothers being hurt hadn’t usually caused reactions like this. Leo was startled by the noise, and ran to Raph’s room to investigate.

“Woah! Woah, Raph, you ok?” Leo asked as he sat down next to him and put an arm on his shoulder, calming Raph down a bit.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into me.” Raph replied, shaking a bit from the realization and eyeing broken pieces of his belongings on the floor.

“Hey, buddy, it’s ok,” Leo was shaking a bit himself, but he didn’t let Raph see it. “We did the best job we could out there and you know it. If things had gone differently, we could’ve lost him. You should be proud of yourself.” He pat Raph on the back. He turned to look at Leo with a worried smile on his face.

“You should be proud of yourself too.” He hugged Leo, though it was more like a squeeze that trapped Leo’s arms. He chuckled and hugged back as best he could.

-

-

-

_ Ugh.. what time is it? Wait- why am I in the medbay? _ Donnie was barely conscious, but he was awake enough to be curious. His eyes were barely open but he could feel the hard bed that belonged to the medbay. He was laid on his stomach, so his shell could have space to breathe and not be pressured. He tried to prop himself up but his muscles didn’t allow it, instead they acted like deflated balloons. His left hand was throbbing from the effort. So he just laid there, his face on one side while he looked at the bland walls. Shame they didn’t think about making it visually stimulating. He would at least had something  _ interesting _ to look at while he laid there. He made a mental note to ask Mikey to paint the walls later. Suddenly, he felt an itch on his nose. 

_ Now, of all times?!?!!?  _ Donnie was annoyed his body wouldn’t let him itch it. Best thing to do was wait it out; what else could he do?

The doors to the medbay slid open.

“Hey D? You awake?” Donnie heard a quiet voice ask. He instantly knew it was Mikey. He walked around to Donnie’s face. “Had a good sleep?”

“Best I could have on this  _ thing.  _ It’s very uncomfortable, Micheal.” Donnie was not amused at Mikey’s attempt at a joke. Donnie let out a sigh.

“Oh- sorry. Should I go ask the others to help make you a bed?” Mikey was trying to help any way he could.

“Yes, that...would be nice.” Mikey left and Donnie was alone again. When they came back, he planned to ask for a picture of his injuries. He didn’t like to be left in the dark.

-

-

-

“So what are we supposed to do?? Move him to his own bed??” Raph asked, sitting on the top of the skating ramp while the others skated, trying to ease their worries. Him, Leo and Mikey were having a hard time trying to figure out how they were going to handle this.

“Well, that’s a bit high up and when I visited him he couldn’t really move without accidentally hurting himself??? So that’s probably not possible.” Mikey added. It was true, his bed was high up and wasn’t the best to allow space for Donnie to comfortably fit in his state. 

“I say you leave it to me,” Splinter interrupted. The boys were startled by his sudden appearance. “You are correct, Purple is in no state to sleep in his own bed but that doesn’t mean I can’t find a place for him. Now go do something else. I’ll go talk to him.” Splinter meant what he said. Raph motioned for Mikey and Leo to follow him, putting down their skateboards and walking away. 

Opening the doors of the medbay, Splinter announced his presence. Donnie let out a grumble, Splinter came instead of his brothers.

“Purple, I am here to help. How are you feeling?” Splinter started assessing the situation, eyeing the bandages the boys had put on Donnie.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Donnie retorted. He was in a bad mood, due to both the pain he experienced and annoyance. 

“I see.” Splinter mumbled. “Are you hungry?”

“I mean, I could go for some food, yes.” Donnie admitted. He was, in fact, hungry. He hadn’t eaten since yesterday, he was starving. 

With that answer, Splinter left, the doors sliding shut behind him. He would find a place for him to sit and discuss with Donnie over some hot chicken noodle soup.

-

-

-

“Everyone sit on the floor. Sibling meeting.” Raph ordered. The boys sat and crossed their legs. The sibling meeting was being held in Mikey’s room. It had the cleanest floor + was furthest away from the medbay so their talk wouldn’t bother Splinter and Donnie. 

“This situation is confusing and hard on all of us,” Raph continued. “How about we just talk for a little bit?” It was true. Raph was trying to calm everyone down, he knew a lot was running through their heads.

“Well, if we’re doing this, then how about we start with how everyone’s feeling.” Leo stated. 

“I’m going first.” Leo and Raph looked at Mikey with a surprised expression, he never wanted to go first in any other situation. “First of all, I’m  _ angry. _ Angry that you three treated me like I couldn’t do anything and sent me back home. I  **_wanted_ ** to help you guys. I  **_wanted_ ** to be there, but  _ no,  _ I’m sent back to do things digitally just because I can’t swim. If you gave me the chance, I could’ve followed you guys above water and given you a warning on where the yokai was going! I could’ve stopped it! We could’ve avoided this whole situation and Donnie would be ok!” Mikey was fuming, tears beginning to form under his eyes. “You said we would always have each other’s backs. I guess that wasn’t true.” He avoided eye contact as he finished.

“Mikey-” Leo reached out his hand. Mikey pushed it away. The other two didn’t realize how much Mikey was hurt by their decisions. 

“We’re sorry. We’re sorry we hurt you, we didn’t know.” Raph’s voice was quiet as he talked to his younger brother. He had only done this a few times in his life, instances like this didn’t happen often.

“Mikey, if you weren’t here with Donnie’s invention who knows how bad it could’ve been. You’re the one who stopped the yokai from doing any further damage and let us know where to take Donnie. You told us what to do when we brung him to the medbay.  _ You had our backs. _ ” Leo added. He could notice a change in Mikey, his tears beginning to stop and loosening of tense muscles. But that didn’t mean he forgave them just yet. His eyes met Leo’s, and then Raph’s.

A hug ensued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This chapter was fun to write due to some Mikey angst :)  
> I don't see enough of that and took it upon myself to supply some. If you're wondering about an update schedule, this fic will be updated whenever I get a new chapter done! I want to finish this without a thousand hiatuses in the middle. 
> 
> Leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed! <3


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